Volunteering At A Adult Foster Care Home

Referring to the scenario depicted in the two cases a foster carer is also responsible twenty-four hours a day for the well being of any individual in their care and as such many of them are already parents themselves and have a great deal of experience with dealing with such individuals and the demands on time and attention that they pose. Foster carers are also called upon to provide motivation and encouragement and to help mentally impaired uncontrollable individuals in their care to 'come out of their shell'. Many such mentally impaired adults, as a result of being moved from place to place, or as a result of little or no affection, find it difficult to communicate with their peers and so the ability to help build self-confidence is a must.

Such adults looked after by local authorities are amongst the most vulnerable in our population. Government objectives to ensure the development of secure attachments and to improve the life chances of this group will not be achieved unless they can be provided with stable and supportive placements. Much of the research indicates that placements with foster carers are the most appropriate for the majority of children; however authorities repeatedly claim that they are unable to recruit sufficient numbers of foster carers, and those who have been recruited are often asked to take more mentally impaired and/or for longer periods than specified in their approval. In order to identify how far they are able to meet the current needs of their care population and to make plans for the future, authorities need to collect routine information about their foster carers, the placements they can offer and the ways in which they are utilised.

At a national level such data are necessary to inform programmes to improve and reform the foster carer workforce and to ensure that authorities have the capacity to meet the needs of those patients for whom they hold responsibilities. Family and friends carers are an important category of foster carer.

Foster care homes should provide a close knit family type care to to mentally impaird uncontrollable individuals when compared to those who are taken care of in the general and traditional nursing homes. Foster carers for the specified individual can care with more specified attention. However, at any one time there may be a number of family and friends carers providing what ...